Buffalo Bills vs Carolina Panthers
1 2 3 4 FINAL
BUFFALO 0 7 0 16 23
CAROLINA 0 0 0 0 0
CHARLOTTE – After a week of national 'hot takes' claiming the reigning Super Bowl champions were "done" after Week 1, the Buffalo Bills (1-1) silenced their critics with a dominating shutout victory over the Carolina Panthers (1-1) Sunday morning.
Both offenses were virtually non-existent throughout with the Bills out-gaining the Panthers 146 to 114 on the day.
James Bradberry, who finished with three interceptions for the game, and Su'a Cravens both took picks to the house for the games only touchdowns.
"It was one of those games where the offense needed us to pick them up," Bradberry said. "We can win lots of different ways, today was our turn, next week I expect the O (offense) to get back on track."
Despite the team's passing woes, Todd Gurley finished with a workman-like line of 28 carries for 107 yards.
The Bills next face Drew Brees and the Denver Broncos.
New England Patriots vs New Orleans Saints
1 2 3 4 FINAL
NEW ENGLAND 0 0 10 0 10
NEW ORLEANS 0 10 10 7 27
NEW ORLEANS – Six Dak Prescott interceptions spelled doom for the New England Patriots (0-2) as his team fell by a final of 27-10 to the hot New Orleans Saints (2-0).
A week after gashing the Minnesota Vikings, DeMarco Murray was held to only 68 yards rushing by a gritty Patriots defensive unit. But with Prescott's nightmare afternoon, the Pats defenders had no chance to keep the game close in the end.
"We are a tough locker room man," Michael Bennett said. "But we can't give the ball away like that. On D (defense), we made enough plays to win. Our offense needs to wake up."
The Saints have now proven they can win in dominating fashion (like last week) and in a game where their offense provided very little.
"The only stat that matters in the end is whether you win or lose," Sean Payton said. "We couldn't get much going offensively, but we were fortunate our secondary came to play."
The Patriots now head home to take on the Houston Texans while the Saints head to Carolina to face the recently shut out Carolina Panthers.
Miami Dolphins vs Los Angeles Chargers
1 2 3 4 FINAL
MIAMI 0 14 7 9 30
LAC 7 0 7 7 21
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Chargers (1-1) failed in their attempt to "Fight for LA" falling 30-21 to the Miami Dolphins (1-1) in the NFL opening of the Stubhub Center.
Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook combined for 280 rushing yards as the duo brought to mind last year's two-headed monster of Thomas Rawls and Chris Ivory for the Dolphins.
"It felt good to get out there and finally get our running game going," David DeCastro said. "If we can control the game on the ground, that opens everything up for our team."
Late in the 4th quarter, with the game in the balance, newly acquired Marquette King pinned LAC at their own 1-yard line. On first down, Melvin Gordon was stuffed deep in the end zone for a safety, sealing the win for Miami.
"I feel like we play them every year and every year it's a dogfight," Philip Rivers said. "We just got to keep at it and we'll be alright."
Miami now travels back across country to take on the AFC East leading New York Jets.
New York Jets vs Oakland Raiders
1 2 3 4 FINAL
NYJ 14 0 9 6 29
OAKLAND 7 7 0 3 17
OAKLAND – A 4th quarter, 94-yard scoop-and-score by Zach Brown helped deliver the New York Jets (2-0) a cross country victory over the Oakland Raiders (1-1) by the score of 29-17.
"Right place, right time," Brown said. "Any win you can get you take it. They had a chance there at the end, I'm just glad we slammed that door shut."
David Johnson had a second consecutive strong performance with 114 yards rushing on 19 carries with a touchdown.
"Not our best game on either side," Johnson said. "But Zach (Brown) said it best: a win is a win. People are gunning for us, we just gotta keep grinding.
Three Jets players finished with over 50 yards rushing for the game as Johnson, Jordan Howard, and surprisingly Derek Carr led the strong ground attack.
"Kind of a weird game," Carr said. "I'm not Michael Vick 2.0. I just saw some chances to run and took them today."
The Jets now head home to take on their rivals from Miami.
